Sunday, June 26, 2011

Why it Takes so Long: The Book Jacket

In mid-May, my plan of attack looked like this:

4 pencil drawings awaiting feedback,

11 drawings ready to be inked and then painted,

9 inked drawings in the process of being painted.

Then, all of a sudden, the publisher needed sketches for the book jacket--a thing I hadn't even begun to think about. It was a steep learning curve for me, full of back-and-forth, hurry-up-and-wait, and it's not over yet! But so far, the process has gone roughly like this:

Pencil Sketches

Ideas for the Endpapers

A Jacket Sketch with an "Active" Feeling

A Jacket Sketch with a "Quieter" Theme

Now we wait for feedback from the sales and marketing team. In the meantime, I've gone back to my previously scheduled plan: inking, painting, inking, painting...and pausing once in a while to touch base with you. Thanks for keeping me company on this long journey!

(P.S. Were you surprised by the shape of the book jackets? They're designed to wrap around the whole book, and they include those flaps that fold inside the front and back covers to hold the jacket in place. That's why they look so long and skinny.)

No comments:

Post a Comment

About

Everdello is a behind-the-scenes look at my book-filled life: my day-job as a librarian, my work as a published author/illustrator of children's books, and the small handmade books and illustrated alphabets that are my passion. If you enjoy this blog, you’re warmly invited to visit my website and my other blogs.